The Return
by Mage and Knight
Summary: A certain red robed mage joins the Companions while they eat at the Forestmaster’s table. Rated T for slight language. No slash.


Title: The Return  
Written By: Anargil and SolamnicKender (Mage and Knight)   
Summary: A certain red-robed mage joins the Companions while they eat at the Forestmaster's table. Rated K+. No slash.  
Disclaimer: We don't own anything you recognize.  
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Bethany walked into the clearing. Even through her magical sight, the scene was exactly how she had pictured when she first read Dragons of Autumn Twilight, with the exception that Sabrina was there. The table was piled with food, Caramon was stuffing his face, Raistlin was looking cynical as usual, except now, different from the last time she had seen him, he had his golden skin and hourglass eyes, plus the white hair that most people thought made him look ghastly. Bethany was strangely fascinated by his bizarre appearance, but that wasn't her concern right now. She approached the table and sat beside Sabrina, working hard to be as unobtrusive as possible, her hood up and eyes cast in shadow. She wanted to delay the explanation of her strange eyes as long as possible.

Only one person noticed her right away, and it was no surprise to her that he did. Raistlin eyed her strangely, and she caught her breath as she looked back. His hourglass eyes were so bright, the color so intense... It was incredible. She realized it was because they were very magical objects. But the thing was, Raistlin himself seemed to glow. She shook herself out of it, willing herself not to fall for Raistlin... any more than she already had, she amended, smiling inwardly at her foolishness.

Sabrina had noticed Bethany sitting there, though Bethany could tell by her friends' bemused expression that she did not recognize her. "Hey, Sabrina," she said, smiling.

"B - Luthien!!" Sabrina screeched, overjoyed and pissed off at the same time. Bethany jumped back; the outburst had been expected, but it still startled her. Expected, too, was the fact that Sabrina quickly latched onto Bethany with a tight hug, but Bethany still flinched. The familiar reaction from her friend only made Sabrina even happier that Bethany was really and truly back.

Sabrina pulled back and Bethany thought the hugging was done with, but was immediately latched onto by a small body and then all her air whooshed out of her as she was engulfed by huge arms and crushed. "Hi Tas... Hi Caramon," she managed to gasp out. When Caramon put her down, she looked around at all the Companions greeting her. She could have cried with happiness. She was here, in Krynn. The Companions were her friends. Her best friend from the real world was with her as well. And Raistlin... Well, she thought, we'll see how things go with Raistlin.

Her hood had come off when Caramon had hugged her, and she hurriedly pulled it back up, though she noticed that Raistlin eyed her even more strangely, cocking an eyebrow. But she was saved from any further thought on the subject by an interrogation. "Where were you?" Sabrina asked, stepping forward and cornering her. "You just left, in the middle of the night! You didn't leave me a note or anything!"

"Well, the last time I left you a note, you didn't even notice it. I decided to save myself the trouble," Bethany said.

"Note? Note? What do mean last time I left you a note? When have you ever left me a note?"

"Exactly my point," Bethany pointed out. Caramon chuckled.

"I thought you were dead, you absolute rotten horrible evil person! Where the heck were you?"

"I'll start from the beginning," Bethany said. "This year, I turned twenty-five."

Sabrina still did not understand the significance of this. "Why does your age matter so much? Raistlin asked your age too, but I can't figure out why!"

"Because, Sabrina, at twenty-five, mages take their Tests in the Tower," Bethany explained.

Sabrina's jaw dropped. She had completely forgotten about the Test! "Well?" she asked excitedly. "How did it go?"

"Quite well," Bethany said, using the same terms Par-Salian had. "Obviously I passed, or I would not be here right now. And I have been accepted into the order of Lunitari." She sat, keeping one hand on her staff, atop which the crystal glowed with a soft blue light. "Can we eat? I'm starved," she added.

No one had any problem with this suggestion, and they all sat down at the table, resuming their conversations from before. Bethany quickly realized that eating with utensils and retaining her sight was a problem. She often needed to use both hands with her utensils, and when she did this, her sight would fade out, as she had to release her staff. She slid her foot out of one of her boots and hooked the bare foot around the staff, holding it up pinned against the chair. As long as the staff touched her bare skin, the spell worked.

However, as the dinner progressed, Sabrina began to notice that Bethany was acting a little strange. She did not pull back her hood, keeping it over her head so that her eyes were shaded; not covered, but in enough shadow so that Sabrina couldn't see them clearly.

Bethany suddenly felt her staff yanked from her, and her sight vanished, darkness surrounding her entirely. She felt a qualm of near panic, but forced herself to calm. "Wow, Luthien!" Tas's kender voice rang out. "This staff is great! And it doesn't shock people like Raistlin's does! Sorry, Raistlin," Tas added solicitously, "but I think I like Luthien's staff better. It doesn't hurt, and even though being magically shocked is rather exciting, it isn't very conducive to a long life."

"Thanks, Tas," Bethany said with forced cheer. "Can I have it back now?"

"Sure!" Tas said cheefully. He held the staff out to Bethany.

Bethany sent a quick prayer to the Gods for help, and then reached out in the direction she had heard Tas's voice come from, hoping to find the staff. She found... nothing. Her hand felt nothing but air.

"Um, Luthien? I'm over here," Tas said, actually sounding a little worried.

Bethany reached out in the new direction, slightly to her left and thankfully, her fingers grasped the cool wood of the staff. Her vision faded back in, and she drew the staff to her protectively. Looking into Tas's face, the worried expression she saw there was probably the most pitifully cute thing she'd ever seen. "Luthien?" the kender asked. "Are you blind?"

"No," she answered truthfully, hugging the staff to her.

"He means a moment ago, Luthien," Sabrina said sharply. She had watched this exchange in growing concern. "When you reached for the staff and missed. By a lot."

Bethany thought of all the ways she could deny her blindness, each sounding more pitiful than the last. "Screw it," she thought. She was done trying to pretend. She would have to live with this inconvenience for the rest of her life; she might as well start telling people about it. "Yes," she said. "When I am not in contact with my staff, I am... blind." Deciding to get it all over with at once, she drew her hood back and met Sabrina's gaze with her pupil-less eyes.

Immediately Sabrina knew something was wrong with Bethany's eyes, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it... and then she saw it. "Your eyes! What the hell? What did they do to you?"

"A simple side effect of my Test," Bethany said calmly. Her empty gaze unnerved Sabrina. "Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Sabrina yelled. By now, the rest of the Companions attention was on them. "Your goddamned pupils are gone, and there's nothing to worry about? Where are those mages who tested you? I'll rip their eyes out! I'll pull their brains out through their noses while they're still conscious! I'll murder them all, those goddamned fu - "

"Sabrina!" Bethany shouted, grabbing Sabrina's shoulder roughly, which shocked the incensed warrior into silence. "Calm down! I can still see using my magic, it doesn't hurt... there's no harm done. I'm fine." She released Sabina's shoulder and sat back in her chair, her staff clasped firmly to her.

There was a short silence, broken only when Tas realized what he had heard. "You can see... using your _magic_?" he exclaimed. Bethany nodded in affirmation. "That's wonderful!" Tas shouted excitedly. "Can you teach me sometime? Raistlin doesn't like using his magic on me, but you could - "

"Wait," Sabrina cut Tas off. "Is it still... normal sight? Or do you see all creepy like Raist does?"

Raistlin snorted derisively. Bethany gave a small smile, her eyes flicking to Raistlin for a moment before answering. "I see in black and white, all in shades of grey. Except," she added, and Sabrina noticed that her eyes found Raistlin again, "magical objects, or objects that are enchanted."

At that point, the Forestmaster began speaking. Everyone turned to listen, and Bethany sat back in her chair, grateful to have the attention off of her.

TBC


End file.
